Thanksgiving Dinner, Decorations, and Hostess Hints
Whether decorating for Thanksgiving Dinner, preparing the meal, or needing a special host/hostess gift, here are a few ideas with fun Thanksgiving Themes to save you time and tension while preparing for the holiday.
Interspersed throughout this lens, you'll also find a few personal Thanksgiving memories.
Our Thanksgiving Tradition
Sharing with Friends
Quite accidentally, we began our own Thanksgiving Tradition in 1962. First Thanksgiving together, first year of marriage, new baby, new job in a new State far from family, and Bob, a radio broadcaster, had to work on Thanksgiving Day. As it turned out, Bob's co-worker was also new to the State and had no family nearby, so Bob brought him home for dinner with us.
This began a 40-year tradition of 'sharing' our Thanksgiving Dinner with someone who would otherwise be alone and probably not even have a traditional holiday dinner. We fed a turkey dinner to a lot of grateful bachelors over the years and it always felt like the perfect way to celebrate this "sharing" holiday.
Bob Carving Holiday Turkey
Send a friend a Thanksgiving Day Card
Or Send a Thanksgiving Dinner Invitation
Pilgrim Greeters
Chris & Kim, brother and sister, ages 7 & 4
Our church in Lincoln, Nebraska had a tradition for the Thanksgiving Service of having a pair of children be 'greeters' for the congregation. Someone in the church had made pilgrim costumes for the greeters to wear. In 1969 our children were chosen - not just because they were so cute (well, they were!), but because they were the right SIZE for the only pair of costumes available. Chris & Kim had a marvelous time "dressing up" and greeting everyone at the door to the church.
Turkey Day Thanksgiving Mat
Turkey Day Thanksgiving Indoor Outdoor Doormat
Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2009)
A Festive way to welcome your guests
Before you begin to cook...
Put on a pretty hostess apron
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This Fall Harvest A Thanksgiving Turkey Apron
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There are some absolutely amazing thanksgiving aprons out there from the humorous to the seriously beautiful. I hope this page will help you find the one that is perfect for you as you prepare to celebrate one of the most important holidays in North...
Find Your Recipes...
The Thanksgiving Cookbook
Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2009)
Betty Crocker Complete Thanksgiving Cookbook
Amazon Price: $12.21 (as of 12/05/2009)
How to Cook a Turkey: And All the Other Trimmings
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 12/05/2009)
Get out the Turkey Roaster...
Granite Ware 18-Inch Covered Oval Roaster
Amazon Price: $16.36 (as of 12/05/2009)
Hamilton Beach 32229 22-Quart Roaster Oven, Stainless Steel
Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2009)
Masterbuilt 20100809 Butterball Oil-Free Electric Turkey Fryer and Roaster
Amazon Price: $93.00 (as of 12/05/2009)
Turkey Trimmings
The Rest of the Meal
If you're having the traditional Roast Turkey for your Thanksgiving Dinner, you're probably adding other family favorites. Ours were turkey stuffing, of course, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, a vegetable, and dinner rolls.
Featured Lenses for the Turkey-day Trimmings
New recipes and ideas to try
Helpful Squidoo recipe lenses for an unusual bread from Australia called Damper, Roast Turkey and Tasty Bread Stuffing, everyone's favorite basic vegetable dish, the delicious Green Bean Casserole, and homemade cranberry sauce. Then check out the Top 10 Holiday Side Dish Recipes.-
Damper
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Damper is a traditional Australian wheat flour bread baked in the coals of a campfire. Made from nothing more than flour and water with perhaps the addition of salt, damper of the early days of Australian settlement was meant to do little more than f...
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Original Green Bean Casserole Recipe
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Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and it's time to start planning out the Thanksgiving Day menu. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and crescent rolls are easy additions to the menu. However, finding a tasty and delicious...
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Roast Turkey and Tasty Bread Stuffing
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Thanksgiving dinner at my house used to be a massive undertaking. I have learned over the years to simplify. I learned to cut way back on the ridiculous number of dishes I always prepared. I finally realized I don't need do everything myself...
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Cranberry Sauce - From Bog to Table
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Come along with me to Maine, where my recipe for Cranberry Sauce starts with a stop at a Cranberry Bog where berries are gathered, sorted with an antique Cranberry sorter, taken home to my kitchen, where they were made into delici...
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Top 10 Holiday Side Dish Recipes
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I absolutly love all the holidays! With a big family spread out every where this is the time of year when we can all get together. And everyone coming together means lots of wonderful food..... YUM! Here's how we take care of the holi...
Attractive Serving Dishes for your Trimmings
Fall Pumpkin And Sunflower Sculpted Bowl For Thanksgiving/Autumn Harvest
Amazon Price: $33.50 (as of 12/05/2009)
Pfaltzgraff Solid Color Collection Nutmeg Plymouth Small Covered Acorn Dish
Amazon Price: $8.99 (as of 12/05/2009)
PAMPERED CHEF OVAL PLATTER CRANBERRY
Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2009)
L. E. Smith Pressed Glass Covered Pumpkin Bowl, Amber
Amazon Price: $39.99 (as of 12/05/2009)
Set the Table....
Thanksgiving Theme Table Decorations
Thanksgiving Blessing 11" Banquet Plates (8 count)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2009)
Thanksgiving Blessing Lunch Napkins (16 count)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2009)
Country Thanksgiving Dessert Plates
Amazon Price: $1.69 (as of 12/05/2009)
Autumn Leaves Table Runner
Amazon Price: $8.98 (as of 12/05/2009)
Decorate the Bathroom
For your Thanksgiving Dinner Guests
Tommy The Turkey Embroidered Guest Towels (set of 2)
Create an unforgettable party for your guests this Thanksgiving with our Tommy The Turkey Embroidered Guest Towels (set of 2). Embroidered with an unique turkey design, your guests will certainly be delighted by these wonderful ivory and brown toned towels. 100% cotton. Machine washable; tumble dry.
Amazon Price: $14.95 (as of 12/05/2009)
Dress Baby for Thanksgiving Day
What Can I Bring?
Our friend Eric with our son-in-law, Paul
Dinner guests often ask "What can I bring? For several years, while living in Georgia, we invited a young bachelor friend of our son-in-law to Thanksgiving Dinner. Eric was a broadcaster with a Public Radio Station and had to work on holidays, so he came to dinner after work. Eric always wanted to "bring a dish", so we left 'dessert' up to him. The first two years, Eric brought TWO kinds of pies, a third different dessert, like a cheesecake, AND a bag of Peanut M&M's.
By the third year, with only 3 of us eating an entire Thanksgiving Dinner, I admonished Eric to bring only ONE dessert -- there was only SO MUCH that we could eat!
Traditional Thanksgiving Dessert
Pumpkin Pie
It seems as though pumpkin pie is the traditional Thanksgiving Dinner dessert, but mincemeat pie and pecan pie are also favorite choices. Many other kinds of desserts fit in with this holiday dinner too. What you serve probably depends on where you live and what your family tradition has been. Listed below are some featured lenses with dessert ideas and recipes.
Fabulous and Fun Thanksgiving Desserts
From the traditional Pumpkin Pie to cakes and cupcakes, you'll find the perfect Thanksgiving Dinner Dessert on Squidoo.-
Delicious Dump Cake - A Family Favorite!
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Just to clarify, "dump" in the case of this dump cake recipe is used as a verb, as in "dump the ingredients into the pan." Sound messy? Not really. Sound simple? That's because it is simple, simple but oh, so tasty! While there are some variations t...
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Tasty Turkey Day Cupcakes
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A Cornucopia of Thanksgiving cupcake recipes and ideas for tasty Turkey Day treats that your family and friends will adore. Find links to Thanksgiving cupcake recipes, tasty Thanksgiving treat ideas, cupcake cookbooks, Thanksgiving cake ideas&nbs...
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Your Complete Guide to Pumpkin Pie Recipes
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Pumpkin pies and pumpkin desserts are a traditional, and some would say necessary, part of Fall and Winter celebrations. I've included a sampling of different types of pumpkin pie recipes, along with links to MANY other great recipes. You'll find tra...
Dessert Cooking Aids You Might Find Helpful...
OvenStuff Non-Stick 9 Inch Pie Pan Two Piece Set
Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 12/05/2009)
Pfaltzgraff Plymouth Cider Solid Color Collection Pumpkin Pie Baker
Amazon Price: $12.99 (as of 12/05/2009)
Thanksgiving Medley Dessert Plates 8ct
Amazon Price: $1.65 (as of 12/05/2009)
Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie
Amazon Price: $18.45 (as of 12/05/2009)
Progressive International Collapsible Pie Cutter
Amazon Price: $14.95 (as of 12/05/2009)
Time to Clean up the Kitchen
Make it easier with a pretty dishcloth
Stay in the holiday mood right through the dish washing by using a practical cotton dishcloth in a pretty Fall theme. This Pumpkin Dishcloth would fit in perfectly. Hand-crocheted of 100% cotton yarn in orange with a bright green stem. it measures 9 inches x 11-1/2 inches.Pumpkin Dishcloth can be found at the Etsy Shop of Mountainside Crochet
Holiday Decorating in the News...
Invited out for Thanksgiving Dinner?
Need a Hostess Gift?
Tag Harvest Pumpkin Candles, Set of 4
Amazon Price: $14.10 (as of 12/05/2009)
Happy Thanksgiving - 11oz Mug
Amazon Price: $13.99 (as of 12/05/2009)
Turkey Mug
Amazon Price: $9.99 (as of 12/05/2009)
Turkey Hickory Sampler Gift Box
Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2009)
Thanksgiving Turkey Handmade Belgian Solid Milk Chocolate (4.5 Oz)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2009)
Thanksgiving Dinner Leftovers Monster
A whimsical plushie
For a cute, handmade, Thanksgiving Day centerpiece that will be talked about all through dinner, check out this adorable Thanksgiving Dinner Leftovers Monster created by YUMMYPANCAKE, a clever crafter in Lancaster, PA. This creative plushie sells for $35.00 in her Etsy Shop.He has a Pumpkin pie body, Cranberry sauce arms, turkey drumstick legs, and a whipped cream head. He is crocheted using acrylic yarn and stuffed full of polyfil. He measures about 11 inches high. His legs are a bit wobbly, so he can stand, but needs a little help from behind (aka - prop him up against something).
A clever and unique centerpiece for your Thanksgiving Dinner Table! Amaze your family and friends!
How do you celebrate Thanksgiving?
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Reply
- ImproveMeU ImproveMeU Nov 30, 2009 @ 12:10 pm
- Great work on your lens and congrats on your angel blessing - what an honor
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Reply
- Jewelsofawe Jewelsofawe Nov 22, 2009 @ 6:14 pm
- Blessed by an angel and that turkey looks delicious!
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Reply
- Wednesday_Elf Wednesday_Elf Nov 26, 2009 @ 9:06 pm
- I'm so pleased with your angel blessing, Jewels. Thanks so much.... and that turkey WAS delicious!
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Reply
- Treasures-By-Brenda Treasures-By-Brenda Nov 17, 2009 @ 5:35 pm
- We always have Thanksgiving Dinner with my immediate family and usually with some extended family. I like your idea of sharing with someone who will be alone. When we were first married, an elderly family friend always gathered us 'loose strings' up and served us dinner on the holidays. Even though she didn't cook very well, we loved our meals with her.
Beautifully done lens; blessed.
Thanks for featuring my Thanksgiving aprons lens on your page!
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Reply
- Wednesday_Elf Wednesday_Elf Nov 20, 2009 @ 10:44 am
- Brenda, I'm truly thrilled by your blessing. Thanks so much.
I loved your Thanksgiving aprons lens and was so pleased to be able to feature it here as it fit right in with the theme of my lens.
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Reply
- OhMe OhMe Nov 14, 2009 @ 5:21 am
- Wonderful Thanksgiving Themes From Kitchen To Table. Welcome to the South Carolina Group.
- Load More
Happy Thanksgiving!
Lensmaster Wednesday_Elf has been a member since August 31 2009, has rated 199 lenses, favorited 71, and has created 9 lenses from scratch. Pat Austin donates their royalties to Squidoo Charity Fund. This member's top-ranked page is ""Reflections of the Sea" Ornaments". See all my lenses
by Wednesday_Elf
Wednesday Elf was the nickname given to me by the editors when I worked for a weekly newspaper, on Wednesdays, and... (more)
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